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      After the “dastardly deed.” Within weeks they’ll look lush and gorgeous!

      WEEDS

      You can’t see the forest for the trees. Or better said, you can’t see the flowers because of all the weeds. Maybe the weed-choked garden is the result of a bad load of compost or mulch, or the neighbor’s #@$^{^}* weed from hell keeps invading the garden, or simply time got away from us. The saying “a weed in time, saves nine” has been grossly flip-flopped. Now it seems easier to bulldoze the whole garden and start anew. (This approach might also work with my teenage son’s room.)

       Waging War on Weeds

      Nasty weeds. They bully our perennials and other loved ones, stealing water and nutrients while crowding out light and airflow. It’s time to put an end to their shenanigans. Weeding should be the least of our gardening chores.

       Eradicate Existing Weeds

      • Use organic, post-emergent products such as Burnout II, Avenger or Adios. All three are OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) approved. Post-emergents kill plants already emerged from the ground. For a complete product list visit www.omri.org.

      • Solarization. This works best in sunny areas. First remove any plants that you don’t want steamed to death. Water the area well, cover it with clear plastic and pin down its perimeter with rocks, boards or fabric staples. The sun will take care of the rest over the next four to six weeks.

      • Smotherization works for shady spots (as well as those in sun). Essentially, you starve the plants of light and water. Use black plastic to “seal the deal” for four to six weeks. You can also use six to eight layers of moistened newspaper topped with weed-free compost or soil.

      • Slice off grass/weeds with a spade (flat-edged “shovel”) or rent a sod-cutter from a store like Home Depot.

      • Grab a light-weight stirrup hoe (also called a circle hoe) or a Hound Dog Weeder (right) to quickly and easily demolish weeds. They make great Father’s Day gifts.

      • Hand pull the darn things. Depending on your weight and speed, you could burn up to 240 calories an hour. Weed on!

       Now You See It, Now You Don’t

      Just mention ground ivy or creeping Charlie to most homeowners and expect an explosive response. Technically, its name is Glechoma hederacea but I’ve heard much better four letter word names for it. This perennial weed is a member of the mint family. Surprised? There are a number of ways to deal with it, other than moving. You can use a stiff rake and pull it out, try the “smotherization” method, or apply post-emergent weed killers like Burnout II. Personally, I found terrific success with Jeff Gillman’s homemade concoction shared in his book, The Truth About Organic Gardening. This simple organic recipe, originally from the University of Minnesota Extension’s website, kills creeping Charlie but does no harm to grass. It seems creeping Charlie is highly sensitive to boron; not so, turf grass. As with any herbicide application, organic or not, be careful and responsible when applying it.

      Recipe: Mix 10 ounces of 20 Mule Team detergent with 4 ounces of water to create a paste. Mix this paste into 2.5 gallons of warm water. Put the mixture into a spray bottle and wet the weed leaves. This recipe will cover 1,000 square feet of lawn area. Be careful NOT to over-apply. The Extension warns that if this mixture is used too often or too heavily, boron can build to a toxic level in the soil. For more information, visit http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/weeds/borax-to-control-creeping-charlie.

      “Can we fit any more plants on this cart?”

      “My name is Jake and I’m a plantaholic.”

      So here we are, for whatever reasons, with a garden that no longer works for us. Did we get in this situation because, in our enthusiasm to replicate a garden we ogled in a favorite magazine, we inadvertently created a maintenance monster? Or maybe it just crept up on us, and one day we realized we had a problem on our hands. In my case, a Type A personality coupled with a passion for plants led to an arboretum in my backyard. Perhaps we were “grazers” trying one of everything on the plant buffet until we had a chaotic-looking gumdrop garden and impossible upkeep chores. Or the water feature that was a source of tranquility turned into an ongoing nightmare. Or bending down became an issue – so did getting up!

      Age, health, evolving interests – there are countless reasons why we’ve been driven to our gardening knees. But help is on the way. Let the transformation begin and freedom ring!

      TWO

      THE “CUSTOM-SIZED” GARDEN – PERFECTLY FITTED TO YOUR CHANGING NEEDS

      The previous chapter may have triggered mixed emotions as you reminisced about how your garden evolved over the years. This chapter is all about dreaming up your perfect partner, I mean garden – what fits your passions, lifestyle and landscape now! Let your mind wander; twirl through the meadows like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music; think outside the garden box with no “garden strings” attached. Soon enough, we will refine these dreams to realistically fit your site and budget.

      You might want to consider one or more of the following enhancements:

      Beyond plants. Outdoor kitchens are all the rage. An outdoor kitchen would gobble up lawn and garden space, thereby saving a lot of maintenance and resources (i.e., water, fertilizer, etc.). Keep that at the front of your mind as you look at the project’s bottom line. Designs can be as simple as a grill for the room’s centerpiece, along with a functional countertop. More elaborate set-ups might include a refrigerator, bar, ice-maker, wine cooler, smoker, wood-burning stove, tables, chairs, couches, stereo, television, and of course, the kitchen sink. You can even install outdoor heaters that keep the room temperature just right.

      Removing lawn and old planting beds can create room for an outdoor kitchen.

      For a scaled down version of Julia Child’s playhouse consider a fire pit. Nice for browning marshmallows and sipping evening beverages around.

      Going hand in hand with outdoor kitchens are stylish herb and vegetable gardens for harvesting fresh produce. Now it’s time for true confessions: I don’t enjoy cooking. I can unscrew jars, tear open pre-packaged boxes, and open frozen food bags. My sister was aghast that I’ve never made mashed potatoes from scratch. I thought potato flakes were the real thing. So when it comes to kitchen gardens, allow me to defer to my good friend and colleague Ellen Ecker Ogden, on how to design a lovely herb and vegetable patch. Her fabulous book, The Complete Kitchen Garden, provides everything you need to know, as well as over 100 yummy recipes. For more information visit Ellen’s website at ellenogden.com.

      Given my aversion for doing anything that involves slicing, chopping or dicing, my home garden makeover projects included creating additional seating space where I could relax

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